Two Brothers Grill and Pizzeria opened its new takeaway on Chain Lane in Knaresborough yesterday.

The company previously operated a restaurant and takeaway at Castle Courtyard.

But it became too busy at times so the business decided to set up a standalone takeaway in the former Chilli Hut unit.

It sells pizza, pasta and burgers and other options including vegan dishes.

The Two Brothers restaurant on Castle Courtyard continues to operate as a restaurant.

First customer Stephen Teggin, a local businessman who lives next to the takeaway, was given a free pizza to mark the start of the new venture.

Two Brothers was established in March 2018 when the Ravasz brothers, Nandor and Szilard, opened the business with their wives Vivien Kovacs and Eniko Szenasi.

First customer Stephen Teggin receives his pizza.

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Harrogate’s Starling Independent Bar Cafe and Kitchen has been showing off it’s impressive new space this week following a major renovation.

The restaurant and bar on Oxford Street serves craft beer, hot drinks and pizza, as well as a brunch menu.

The venue, which launched in 2017, now boasts a ground floor three times the size after expanding into the former TSB bank next door.

The refurbishment, which was completed in just three weeks, offers a more fully accessible space and a more vibrant bar atmosphere.

Dan Howard, general manager, said:

“The main idea was we didn’t want to reinvent the wheel. We didn’t consider the concept broken. We just wanted to expand on what we were offering already.

“We offer a great service and a great selection of products that people already liked. We definitely didn’t want to break that.

“We wanted to make sure people who come to Starling already would enjoy what we have done with it and that it would attract a new crowd as well.

“During a testing time in hospitality, we’ve managed to push through with the refurb and now it’s onwards and upwards.”

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Mr Howard said the increased capacity would also allow the upstairs area to be used more.

He said:

“We are looking at putting football on up there. We already get quite a lot of bookings for functions and we now have the space available to allow those to happen more frequently.”

Starling, which is owned by Simon Midgley, will still offer full table service during the day. This will continue upstairs, however from 3pm the new downstairs area will operate as bar service only.

Mr Howard said:

“We are hoping that will just create a bit more of a social environment. It will just create a bit more of a bar vibe on an evening and really get the place buzzing. We will still be offering the same great service we always have done.

“We have got much more of a presence on the street now and when you look in you can see what we’ve got to offer.”

Starling is also well known for its charity quiz nights, with ‘Dan’s Questionable Quiz’, returning this Sunday.

The quiz raises money for the Harrogate Hospital and Community Charity and will now be held in the downstairs bar area.

A YouTube star with nearly 500,000 subscribers has given glowing verdicts to two takeaways in the Harrogate district.

Danny Malin, the man behind Rate My Takeaway, visited the The Roast Inn, which is a roast dinner food truck at Knaresborough’s St James retail park and Starling Independent Bar Cafe Kitchen in Harrogate last week.

Mr Malin’s reviews can have a significant impact on trade, as occurred when he recently visited Harrogate’s Thug Sandwich.

His video review of The Roast Inn went live on Friday and already has 124,000 views. He gave it a glowing endorsement, describing the food as “a solid 10 … heavenly”.

The food truck, which has been based on the retail park for 17 years, sells roast sandwiches and roast dinners. Mr Malin opted for a turkey and stuffing sandwich and a roast pork loin dinner with a side of pigs in blankets for £14.

Sitting on his signature camping chair, he said:

“If you’re like me and you like a roast dinner, this is spot on. The gravy is beautiful, nice and thick, the pork is cooked to perfection and absolutely gorgeous. The whole dinner is smothered in gravy with bit of apple sauce, just delicious!”

“To me it’s just like eating heaven, my kind of meal.”

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Moving onto the sandwich, he said the proportion of turkey to sauce and stuffing was “spot on”:

“That’s the one, you know what the thickness of the turkey is bang on, it’s not dry with all those sauces. Oh wow that is spot on, just amazing.”

Giving his final verdict on the Roast Inn, Mr Malin said:

“For me it’s probably one of my favourite takeaways for a while, a solid 10. I’m going to be coming back next time I’m here.”

Rate My Takeaway reviews Starling

On Saturday, his review of Starling went live and by today had 118,000 views. Mr Malin ordered a meat sweats pizza, Philly fries and a Mars bar slice for £22.50.

Mr Malin tucks in at Starling Bar and Kitchen last week.

Starting with the pizza, he said:

“That meatball topping is absolutely quality and the sauce is spot on. I’m getting a proper Italian vibe from those meatballs.

“The only thing is because the base is so thin the toppings can slide off but the flavour, oh my god. I’d describe it as a messy one.”

Whilst sat outside Mr Malin was approached by lots of local fans all keen to know where he’d been to review locally.

The Philly fries, which are skin-on fries topped with pulled pork, gherkins, barbecue sauce and cheese, also won praise:

“Ooh they’re nice them, the chips have got a bit of a crispiness and with the sweet barbecue sauce and the pulled pork its a beautiful flavour buzzing around my mouth.”

Describing the whole meal as “delicious “he gave Starling a 9.5 rating and said it only missed out on the 10 because the toppings fell off.

A five year old Harrogate boy has won a charity competition that will see his ‘happy pizza’ on sale at a local cafe.

The competition, organised by the Ripon Amateur Operatic Society, was made to promote the local show ‘Oliver!’ . Around 60 school kids sent in drawings of pizza designs.

Henry Elvin, aged five, was the winner. His pizza face had a ham smile, pepperoni eyes, a tomato nose and sweetcorn for hair.

Competition winner Henry (middle) with his Mum (Katy) & Dad (Dan) and two actors from ‘Oliver,’ Amber & Grace

The creation will be on sale at Starling Independent Bar Cafe Kitchen, and £2.00 of every pizza bough will be donated to the Harrogate District Foodbank. Henry also won four tickets to see Oliver next week.

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Hannah Ruddy, from the Ripon Amateur Operatic Society , said:

“Some of the themes in Oliver! surround poverty and going without. Sadly, we are all too aware there is still a huge issue and far too many people have to rely on the support of organisations, such as local foodbanks.

“As well as providing a food donation point at Harrogate Theatre foyer throughout the show’s run, we also wanted to get younger people involved, and thought the competition would be a nice way to raise awareness. We are grateful to Starling for joining us in this and agreeing to make a donation from their weekly special.”

‘Oliver!’ will be shown at Harrogate theatre from 20th-23rd April, and will feature 25 local children from ages six years old and above.

Harrogate’s first food hall is to close just six months after it opened in the former Jamie Oliver restaurant on Parliament Street.

Solita Food Hall Harrogate, which is set over two floors and a rooftop terrace, started serving customers in May.

It has six different stalls, all under the Shoot The Bull brand, and also welcomes other independent businesses on board. It created 30 jobs.

Founder Chris Harrison, chief executive of Shoot The Bull, told the Stray Ferret earlier in the year he hoped Harrogate would welcome the concept with open arms. However, Mr Harrison confirmed today that the Harrogate venue will close at the end of the year.

He added that staff would be offered employment at the next restaurant set to take on the building.

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Tomahawk Steakhouse, which had been planning to move into the empty Bistrot Pierre restaurant on Cheltenham Parade, is now planning to move into Solita Food Hall’s space.

The steakhouse had planned to open in January but with the change of location it is unclear at this stage when it will open for business.

A post on its Facebook page said:

Co-founder Howard Eggleston has been planning to bring his steakhouse brand to Harrogate for four years.

Hidden bar and pizzeria will take the place of Porco Rosso in The Ginnel when it opens its doors for the first time tomorrow.

The bar will only stock drinks from Yorkshire companies and the kitchen will serve hand-stretched, stone-baked pizzas.

It has been a tough year for the hospitality industry so the owners of Hidden have made a bold move opening now.

Tier two restrictions, which began yesterday, forced many wet bars to stay closed but Hidden is among those permitted to open because it serves ‘substantial’ meals.

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Hidden co-owner Jay Rennard said:

“I have always wanted to have a bar or a restaurant. This is both: very boutique, niche and classy. It brings a different vibe to Harrogate, very laid back and casual.

“I hope that people understand that we are trying to do something different. Something you don’t get in chains, a more unique and bespoke approach.”

Louise Robertson-Rennard, who is a joint business partner at Hidden, added:

“It has been a crying shame seeing businesses fold. We think people need hope so we are going to make the experience as normal as possible.

“I think that the hospitality industry has been through enough this year.”

Would you like to spread the word about your shop opening? No matter how small the shop get in touch with the Stray Ferret.